Seldom Seen Stones: the Robert Begole Collection of “Palaeolithic” Stone Tools from Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Large bifacial stone tools that resemble early Palaeolithic stone tools from Africa, Europe, and Asia were collected in the park by Robert Begole many years ago. In light of the recently published Cerutti Mastodon site in San Diego, which suggests that humans were in southern California as much as 130,000 years ago, Begole’s collection of stone tools is being re-examined, along with the sites where they were found. In this talk, the Begole artifacts are compared with stone tools from other American sites, such as Blacks Fork in SW Wyoming, which we are studying in an effort to determine the age and cultural connections of these possibly early stone tools.

Following this introduction, we will examine some of the most characteristic stone tools from the Begole collection. The class will move to the Begole Archaeological Research Center for the hands-on session.